Improvement in laying cement pavements



"near their upper edges.

UNITED STATES PATENT OmslcnJ ALEXANDER F. SYRMA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO BERNARD F. MCOAHILL, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN LAVING CEMENT PAVEMENTS.

Specification forming partof Letters Patent No. 140,956, dated July 15, 1873; application filed May 15, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER F. SHYR- MA, of the city, county, and State oi' New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Laying Cement Pavements, of which the following is a speciiication:

Figure l is a top view, partly in section, of a pavement laid, or being laid, according to my improved plan. verse section of the same on the line o c, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail face view of one of the graduated dividing-plates.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention has for its object to economize in the laying of cement pavements or walks by a better process than those heretofore employed.

In laying cement pavements it has been found advantageous to subdivide the material laid into blocks, as then some blocks can be removed, if injured, without disturbing the others, while also a finer effect can be insured by coloring the several blocks differently.

The laying of such cement blocks is at present generally effected in molds, each mold being of the shape of theblock to be formed. These molds are usually composed of wooden boards set upright on the ground to admit the cement between them, no boards being used on the sides where adjoining blocks are already completed.

Metal plates are occasionally used to as,- sist in forming the corners of the blocks, the same being applied at the ends or narrow sides thereof.

I employ metallic plates A A, of proper length, and lan ged or provided with handles rI hese plates are placed on edge upon the ground, parallel to each other, and at such distances apart as it is desired to make the blocks of cement in length. The cement, being placed on the ground between these dividing-plates, is thus formed into strips as long as the plates A are long, or shorter, and as thick as necessary, the plates A being somewhat higher than the pavement to be laid, to project above the Fig. 2 is a vertical trans-- same, and facilitate their-removal after the pavement has been laid. The pavement, being thus formed into strips, is subsequently cut into blocks of the proper size by means of metallic cutting-plates B B. These plates B are exactly as long as the spaces between the plates AVA, so as to cut entirely through the cement between theplates A, and separate the strips into blocks.

In this manner strips of considerable length can be laid, and then quickly cut into blocks, andv allowed to harden. The plates A and B are then withdrawn, the crevices between the blocks filled with sand or other material, and the pavement is ready for use.

The plates A, or at least those plates A which have no other support on either side, can be held straight by triangular or other braces a placed against them. The several plates A are graduated, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the cement can be filled in to a proper height, and made even on top throughout. The flanges of the plates A are notched, as shown in Fig. l, atregular intervals of space, for the purpose of allowing the plates B to be inserted in their places, the distance between the notches of either plate A being the same as the desired length of the cement blocks.

When, as is often the case, the lower part of the pavement is to be made of common cement, and the upper thin part of colored cement, I propose to employ the plates B directly after the lower layer has been placed, and to ll the upper layer in between the plates A A B B, if the several blocks are to have various colors.

The pavement or walk can thus be economically, because rapidly, laid, the blocks being all nicely shaped, with sharp corners and trim edges. l

The boundary of the entire pavement or walk, or of the parts to be laid from time to time, can be formed of upright metallic plates or of boards.

The invention is applicable to the employ' ment of other than straight plates A or B, o`r both.

Having thus described my invention7 I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination of the cutting-plates B with the dividing-plates A, provided with Wltuesses:

2. The cement-dividing plate A, graduated substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and described.

ALX. F. SHYRMA.

notched zmges, for the purpose of forming a A. V. BRIESEN, cement pavement, in the manner described. T. B. MosHER. 

